MCALLEN, Texas — Two members of a dangerous Puerto Rican gang that operates in a manner similar to a drug cartelhave been arrested near the Texas border.

The two men are named in a six-count federal indictment out of Puerto Rico, accusing 17 members of the group with multiple crimes in furtherance of the criminal organization. While federal authorities do not refer to the Puerto Rican criminal organization as a cartel, a close look at the indictment reveals that their method of operation is very similar to those used by drug cartels in Mexico.

Authorities did not reveal information as to what the two men had been doing in South Texas. It remains unclear if the men had been trying to hide from federal authorities or if they had been in Texas networking for their organization.

Puerto Rico’s Primera Hora news outlet reported late last week about the arrest of multiple key members of the Los Lobos gang which ran various regions in that U.S. territory including the Las Monjas Ward in San Juan and the Los Bultrones de Cataño District.

Details as to the arrest ofCarrion Nieves or Martinez Nunez were not revealed in court records. The two remain in federal custody pending further proceedings later this week.

The two men went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos who formally notified the men of the charges in the indictment filed against them in Puerto Rico. Ramos ordered that the two men be held without bond pending a detention hearing later this week.

The criminal indictment details the operation of the criminal organization which focused on the distribution of marijuana, cocaine and heroin.In a manner similar to Mexican cartels, the members of the group, identified by local media as Los Lobos, would use armed enforcers to protect drug distribution points.

“Co-conspirators would use force, violence, and intimidation in order to gain and maintain control of their drug points and in order to intimidate rival drug trafficking organizations,” the indictment revealed.